Throughout the twentieth century,
the meat and poultry industry has become one of
the most heavily regulated industries in the
United States. The U.S. meat and poultry
inspection system has augmented industry
efforts to create the safest meat and poultry
food supply in the world.

1906: Congress passed the
Meat Inspection Act, one of the first federal
consumer protection measures;

1957: Meat Act was amended
by the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA). The
poultry industry came under federal regulation
with the passage of the Poultry Products
Inspection Act (PPIA).

The FMIA established
sanitary standards for slaughter and processing
establishments and mandated antemortem
inspection of live animals (cattle, hogs, sheep
and goats) and postmortem inspection of every
carcass. Many people are surprised to learn
that the law requires the continuous presence
of federal inspectors in all meat-packing
establishments. Some large plants may have a
dozen inspectors per shift in their
plants.

The meat inspection
program that developed early in the 20th
century used organoleptic methods, based on
sight, touch and smell. The goal of the system
was to prevent unwholesome meat from entering
the food supply by identifying and removing
diseased animals. Today, approximately 8,500
federal inspectors enforce inspection laws in
some 6,200 federally inspected plants across
the United States.

Veterinary inspectors
check animals before and after slaughter,
visually and physically examining more than 6
billion poultry carcasses and 125 million
livestock carcasses each year. Federal
inspectors also monitor products during
processing, handling, and packaging to ensure
that they are safe and accurately labeled.
Federal inspectors have the authority to shut
plants down for food safety violations by
withholding the federal seal of inspection on
products.

Inspectors also test for the
presence of pathogenic microorganisms and some
drug and chemical residues. FSIS operates three
field laboratories to provide analytical
support.

The largest threats to
food safety in the meat industry are no longer
the animal diseases of the early twentieth
century, but foodborne pathogens - bacteria
that can make people sick.

The most effective way to
control microbial problems is through
prevention.Industry had been using a system
called HACCP, or Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Points, since the early 1990s to
prevent problems. Pillsbury developed HACCP for
NASA to make safe food for astronauts. Given
its success, in 1994 American Meat Institute
petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture
to make HACCP mandatory in all meat and poultry
plants. USDA responded with a regulation and in
1998, the industry began the three-year process
of implementing HACCP in accordance with
federal rules.

Under
HACCP, each plant must analyze the processes
used to make different types of product and
must identify where problems may occur. Food
safety resources are then concentrated at these
points. Essentially, HACCP is built on a
strategy of preventing problems rather than
simply detecting them. Federal inspectors are
continuously present in the plants to determine
that the plant is following its own HACCP plan
and the product being produced meets federal
standards. Since 1998 and the implementation of
HACCP, there has been steady and significant
declines in the levels of bacteria present in
meat and poultry.

When suitable, plants use
a variety of intervention strategies to
eliminate forms of contamination on products.
Metal detectors are used to ensure that no
piece of metal - like a screw from a machine -
makes its way into a product. Many beef packers
use steam pasteurization cabinets to pasteurize
the outsides of carcasses and destroy bacteria.
Still other plants use a variety of hot water
washes and hand-held steam vacuums to ensure
that carcasses are as clean as they can
be.

Reducing
microbiological contamination in meat and
poultry is a priority for the meat and poultry
industry. Because microbial pathogens are
invisible to the naked eye, and because they
are difficult to detect quickly using current
technology, eliminating pathogens presents
unique challenges.

Microbiological tests
conducted at meat plants on equipment or
products include generic E. coli, Listeria
species and Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella
and E. coli O157:H7. The tests are conducted by
companies or federal inspectors and are an
additional measure used to ensure that food
safety systems are working
properly.

Companies under federal
inspection apply the USDA seal to all products.
The seal contains an establishment number,
which indicates the facility that produced the
product. The presence of the seal indicates
that the product was produced in compliance
with industry regulations.

The inspection system,
coupled with the industry's commitment to
producing the safest food possible, makes the
U.S. meat and poultry supply is among the
safest in the world.

The materials contained in this Web Site are
not intended as safety advice to any party but
as guidelines. the contents displayed and
linked to in no way represent advice by the
American Meat Institute. Please consult the
safe handling directions and labeling on meat
and poultry products for assurances. For more
information, please contact FSIS for details.